The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Foundation recently received a $10,000 grant from the USA Equestrian Trust (USAET) to support The Laminitis Research Project.

Launched in 2011, The Laminitis Research Project aims to establish foundational research to find veterinary solutions for laminitis in horses. The project’s first study, "A Case-Control Study of Pasture- and Endocrinopathy-Associated Laminitis (PEAL) in Horses," is currently underway. Researchers at Texas A&M University are collecting data for a study designed to examine causes of acute laminitis (an inflammation of the sensitive laminae that connect the horse's hoof to the coffin bone) in horses. Researchers hope to release initial results of the on-going study in August of 2013.

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The AAEP Foundation has identified epidemiologic studies of laminitis as the highest priority for investigation. Subsequently, the Foundation established a Laminitis Research Advisory Board, and principal investigator Noah Cohen, VMD, MPH, Ph.D, Dipl. ACVIM, developed an investigation strategy with the board.

The first study is designed to collect data from naturally occurring cases of acute laminitis not caused by colic, infection or excessive weight-bearing on one limb (supporting limb laminitis). The study is aimed at collecting data from AAEP-member equine veterinarians from the United States and Canada.

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The AAEP Foundation secured initial funding from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. and other donors to support the current epidemiologic study.

“This support from the USAET adds to the credibility of this project and the importance it hopefully will have on the health and welfare of horses affected by this deadly disease,” said AAEP Foundation Chairman C. Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, Ph.D, DSc, FRCVS, Dipl. ACVS & ACVSMR. “We can’t thank the members of the Trust enough for their support of The Laminitis Research Project.”

For more information about The Laminitis Research Project visit www.aaepfoundation.org.

USA Equestrian Trust (www.trusthorses.org), originally founded in New York in 1917 as the American Horse Show Association, is a 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to assist in preserving and/or enhancing the quality of equestrian sport in the United States of America. Its objects and purposes are exclusively charitable, educational and dedicated to the fostering of national and international equestrian sports competition and serves at a Sustaining Affiliated of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) the National Governing Body for equestrian sport in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and the National Equestrian Federation for the U.S. as recognized by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).

The AAEP Foundation (www.aaepfoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) organization, was created in 1994 as the charitable arm of the AAEP. The Foundation’s mission is to improve the health and welfare of the horse through support of research, education, benevolence and the equine community. Since its inception, the Foundation has allocated nearly $2.5 million to support its mission.

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